Citrus is sour for Lady Monarchs

Citrus College Owls midfielder Cindy Ramirez hat-trick show left Valley College with a bitter taste in their mouth, by defeating Valley 3-0 on a windy Friday afternoon at Monarch Stadium.

“We need to figure things out quickly,” said a concerned Valley Head Coach Greg Venger, after losing another conference game and dropping to a 0-3-1 in conference and 5-5-1 overall. “You know four games into conference and going 0-3-1 is not going to settle it. This is a team that had the aspiration of finishing in the top three in the conference. The good news is that we still have six-to-seven games left, but they need to buy into the system and they need to buy into each other quickly.”

The start wasrough for the Lady Monarchs, as their offense was suffocated by the physical Citrus defense. The Owls took over the midfield and left Valley forward Adriana Calderon and midfielder Miriam Ramirez chasing down hopeful long balls for almost the entire game. Calderon’s speed became ineffective when the Owls placed a defender on her at all times,never allowing the leading Monarch scorer a second alone.

Citrus began to generate multiple attacks on the green shirtsback line. The Owls took five of their 13 shots in the first half. Ramirez punished the Lady Monarchs by scoring the opening goal in the 40th minute to give Citrus the 1-0 lead right before the break.

In the second half, Valleyslowly began to pick up momentum but still failed to produce any dangerous chances. As the minutespassed and the ladies in green failed to tie the match, the Owls picked up the pace offensively and defensively asRamirez added two more goals.

Her goals came at the 60th and 68th minutes, as she displayed sound footwork in tight spaces. She weaved around multiple defenders in Valley‘s penalty box before placingthe ball at the back of the net to give Citrus the 3-0 lead. In the final 10 minutes, the ladies in green would finally get their offense rolling, but failed to get their final six shots on target. Every shot sailed over the cross bar or just wide of the post, giving the Owls the 3-0 road victory.

“Our chemistry is the key,” said a frustrated Valley midfielder Ramirez, after the Monarchs dropped their fourth out of the last five games. “That is the only really thing stopping us, because we have had so many injuries, and when players return, our timing is off. But I do think this team can turn it around, that is the reason why I came here.”

The Lady Monarchs will now enter a road trip, by playing the next four games on the road. Valley next home match will be against Antelope Valley College on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 4 p.m. in Monarch Stadium.